Suspect arrested over Bali bombings

Page Tools

Indonesian police have made their first arrest following the
October 1 triple suicide bombings in Bali, detaining a man named
"Hassan" during a raid in East Java.

The breakthrough came on Sunday night, eight days after triple
suicide blasts ripped though three crowded restaurants in Jimbaran
Bay and Kuta, killing 23 people, among them four Australians and
three suicide bombers.

"This person is strongly suspected of having links with the Bali
blasts," deputy national police spokesman Soenarko Ardanto
said.

"But he is still a suspect and we have seven days to question
him."

Soenarko said the man, a construction worker he called only "HS"
but who police sources named as Hassan, was arrested late on Sunday
in the village of Jember.

Soenarko said the man allegedly shared a rented room with one of
the bombers ahead of the attack.

A police source also told AAP the man stayed with one of the
suspected bombers in a maze of alleys close to police headquarters
in the Denpasar suburb of Dangin Puri Kaja.

The man was sent back to Bali at 1.30am on Monday morning
following his arrest, Soenarko said.

The arrest came as police moved the three death-row ringleaders
of the 2002 Bali bombings to a high security jail because of
security concerns at their Denpasar prison.

It also came ahead of tomorrow's third anniversary of the
October 12, 2002 bombings in which 202 people died, including 88
Australians.

The high-security jail is home to former Indonesian dictator
Suharto's son, Tommy, who is serving a 15-year sentence for
masterminding the murder of a supreme court judge.

"They were moved for security reasons," Rata said, adding that
the order for the transfer had come directly from Indonesian
Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin in Jakarta.

"The soil at Kerobokan and the walls are too fragile and the
prison is too full," he said.

"There is only capacity for 338 prisoners there but there are
now more than 800 in there."

In all, five of the Bali bombers were moved, all wearing hoods,
Rata said.

Batu Prison, about 250 kilometres south-east of Jakarta, is
known as Indonesia's "Alcatraz". The jail is home to the country's
most dangerous criminals.

The overcrowded Kerobokan Prison is where Australian convicted
drug smuggler Schapelle Corby is serving her 20-year jail term and
also houses the so-called Bali Nine, whose trials for alleged drug
trafficking began today in Denpasar.

Indonesian police have questioned the three death row bombers
over the recent triple suicide blasts in Kuta and Jimbaran, which
killed 23 people.

Balinese protesters were expected to rally outside Kerobokan
prison tomorrow to demand the immediate execution of the trio.

Security has been tightened on the holiday island following the
bombings and ahead of the anniversary, which will be attended by
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Australian Federal Police
Commissioner Mick Keelty.

Snipers will be deployed on building roofs surrounding a
memorial close to ground zero where the blasts tore through the
Kuta nightclub strip three years ago, killing 202 mostly foreign
holidays makers, including 88 Australians.

Thousands of soldiers, police and intelligence officers have
also been stationed at nearby beaches, resorts and businesses, with
security blocking off access to the memorial site several hours
before the commemoration.